HN Explorer

New Rule: Stop Calling My Company a Lifestyle Business

24 points by cabinguy ↗ HN
- My business partner and I have been working 60-80 hour weeks for 12 years (8 years on this company).

- We started our business because we are passionate about the problems we are solving.

- My co-founder and I own 100% of our stock and our company is debt free.

- We get a nickel's worth of value out of every penny we spend.

- Our 2010 revenue was $450k, our 2011 revenue will be more.

- We have "world changing" funded players that compete against us (although we're regional) and we kick all of their asses.

- We are about to close our first M&A deal.

- Our customers will tell you that our website is WAY more important to them than Facebook or Twitter.

- We try our best to inspire our families and the people around us.

- We fight to win every day and dream of a $20M exit some day.

Instead using a term like "lifestyle businesses" (that, intentionally or not, belittles our efforts) to describe what we and many other hard working entrepreneurs do, please start referring to our businesses as "Ass-Kicking-Hyper-Awesome-Style Businesses" or something similar. The term "lifestyle business" is not descriptive. Thank you.

(This post was inspired by this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2337745)

13 comments

[ 5.9 ms ] story [ 46.6 ms ] thread
chrisgoodrich
the bottom line question...

are you happy with your success?

cabinguy
Not even close! I spend most of my waking time thinking about how to improve and grow. It is the last thing I think about when falling asleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up...and has been for 8 years. I love what I do everyday - but I am far from satisfied. To be honest, I can't imagine ever being "satisfied."

My main point is: Our business does not address a large enough market to create a $100M+ business - but that does not mean it should be called a "lifestyle business."

catshirt
but are you happy with your successs?
cabinguy
I am happy with our progress. I wouldn't call it a success. When we hit revenues that would justify a $20M exit, it will be a success in my book.
avichal
Why don't you go raise a little bit of money and get to that in a lot shorter time? Taking a $500k round and giving up 10% of your company to get to your goal 4 years more quickly is a worthwhile trade-off. If you have $500k in revenue and you have very large competitors then that means there is probably 50x more revenue sitting out there that you could acquire if you had a bigger team and more resources.

If that's really your goal then why are you taking a harder and longer path to that end goal?

cabinguy
There are a ton of reasons we have not tried to raise funding.

It sounds like it would be easy, we have proof of concept (after 8 years), but raising capital is very intensive. We feel like we do not have time to take our eyes off the ball. Also, if we are correct and we can build this out to a $20M exit - an investor would most likely need to take more than 10% for their $500k - and - $20M exits are not very interesting to most investors.

We are growing at a decent pace organically and now through M&A. We believe there are a lot of other M&A deals out there for us and our time is better spent putting those deals together.

If someone knocks on the door we will talk...but we don't have time to knock on their doors.

seto28
Why 20M and not 200M? Or 2B? The question is, can it scale? If so, why not show the VCs how it's a potential 1B+ company rather than 20M?
notahacker
Really, when you compare some of the "not really a business but it just might work" type ventures the term "lifestyle business" is intended to compare and contrast you with, I'd take it as a compliment. Sure, there are people who earn more per day literally and metaphorically playing poker, but I know who I respect more.
cabinguy
Whenever I hear someone call someone else's business a "lifestyle business" - I personally get the feeling that it is a direct dig. I am sure some people disagree with me and I am sure not everyone means to belittle someone else's work...but this is how I feel when I hear it/read it.
wmat
So I finally bothered to check wikipedia and find out what a "lifestyle business" actually was: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_business

"A lifestyle business is a business that is set up and run by its founders primarily with the aim of sustaining a particular level of income and no more; or to provide a foundation from which to enjoy a particular lifestyle."

It doesn't sound like that describes your business exactly. But why do you care? Sounds like you're doing what you love, so whatever someone else labels your business is mildly irritating but essentially irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Care to share your URL?

cabinguy
I agree with you 100%. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the subject. Also, I shared some sensitive data so I am not going to share our URL...hope you understand.
wmat
Fair enough. Good luck to you, I hope you attain that 20MM dollar exit goal!
[dead] kasharoo
I prefer a "wifestyle business": A business that is set up and run by my wife primarily with the aim of sustaining me at a particular level of income and no more; or to provide a foundation from which I can enjoy a particular lifestyle.